Voters deliver hung parliament: media industry reacts

There may well not be any clear winners but one theme does seem to have emerged from these results, Enough is enough.

There has been a significant shift in voting behaviour in the UK. No longer are people narrowly defining their politics based simply on socio-economic background, legacy or location. We are witnessing is the increased fluidity of voter behaviour around issues that matter to them, as previous SNP voters from once Labour heartlands vote Conservative to register their disapproval over a second Independence referendum.

These rapid changes in allegiance point to a future where politicians of all descriptions may have to start listening to would-be voters and not rely on age old truths to allow them to ignore our concerns and opinions. Age old truths such as the young never vote anyway or the Conservatives cannot win in Scotland, have been turned on their head and revealed as lazy sound-bites of a bygone era.

Much of the analysis of this election over the coming weeks and months will focus on the uncertainty that had been created by these results. While this “chaos” unfolds and in-between the panic, I do hope the political class find time analyse these results and remember that the scenario in which they find themselves is of their own making and once again due to a failure to listen and adapt.

Uncertainty is the word of the day and it will be some time before the full picture emerges. What’s clear is that on the biggest political and economic issue of the day – Brexit – the task just got even harder, with the potential for that to crowd out almost anything else.

UK advertising can play its part in a successful Brexit – but only with the right support. Theresa May’s commitment to reducing immigration to the “tens of thousands” risks damaging our ability to attract the best of global talent and investment.

As a result of the amount of uncertainty it’s not a huge surprise that we are in this situation as there is not a great deal of strong leadership in place to get behind. That shows how important it is to have a strong, bold and inspiration leader which has been absent.

This result demonstrates how important it is to stick with your convictions with campaign planning. May’s habit of performing a U-turn demonstrated a lack of courage which doesn’t give people confidence.

What I would tell our members is that in a time of uncertainty it is more important we come together and demonstrate the power of great leadership. If we come together and unite then we can show that together we are better.

Andy Pearch, co-founder, MediaSense
“As a result of the amount of uncertainty it’s not a huge surprise that we are in this situation as there is not a great deal of strong leadership in place to get behind. That shows how important it is to have a strong, bold and inspiration leader which has been absent.

“This result demonstrates how important it is to stick with your convictions with campaign planning. May’s habit of performing a U-turn demonstrated a lack of courage which doesn’t give people confidence.

“What I would tell our members is that in a time of uncertainty it is more important we come together and demonstrate the power of great leadership. If we come together and unite then we can show that together we are better.”

A clear win in this snap election would have provided some much-needed stability, vital to businesses and the economy.

It’s too soon to make any confident predictions but as many have observed, the business community and uncertainty are unhappy bedfellows – so it’s hard to see last night’s results in a positive way. That said the possibility of more nuanced Brexit negotiations would be welcomed by most in the advertising world.

Before this snap election, both the Labour Party and the Conservatives had shown commitment to the creative industries. Whatever the outcome of next few weeks and whatever the makeup of the next government, our political leaders must remember that advertising fuels the economy and that the needs of our industry must be included in Brexit negotiations. And that agencies are – among their various other skills – problem-solvers and well-placed to help businesses succeed even in uncertain times.

The IPA looks forward to working with Government, contributing to initiatives that will drive the economy forward.

How do you solve a problem like engaging youth voters? This is the age old question hounding politicians for decades. But who would have thought that the Snap Election would end up being the one to sway millennials into making their voices heard?

With 74% of 18-24 year olds turning out to vote, perhaps it was the Labour Party’s smart social media strategy which can answer this. From the beginning, Labour knew exactly who their target audience was, and were savvy enough to incorporate a multitude of youth-engaged platforms in their campaign, and even turn every youth into an influencer themselves.

Snapchat saw one of the biggest impact campaigns launch on voting day, with a multitude of Labour geofilters, and even post-story vertical video adverts, all featuring the same bitmoji-style illustration of Corbyn – altogether showing a deep understanding of both the platform which they used and the user themselves. Including a geo-filter is a sure-fire way to turn each individual into an influencer, allowing them to represent the party to their unique social micro-communities.

It is a staunch contrast to the Conservative efforts, which saw much less savvy social media campaigning, and notably more traditional formats such as a circulation of mailbox letters. But the cherry on the cake of how out of touch the party seemed to be is from Tory candidate Greg Knight’s altogether astounding campaign video. Complete with dramatic slow walk to enter the room, and finishing with a cheesy theme song to sing his values – it shows the huge gulf of knowledge between parties when trying to connect with millennials who are highly engaged with social media.

Last night’s result was one that no one really expected – aside from one solitary YouGov poll that quickly retreated – but the resounding mood of the nation was one of backlash.

With Brexit negotiations 11 days away, a hung parliament leaves Britain yet again in a position of uncertainty. Overnight we saw the pound plummet to a seven-month low and businesses will be bracing themselves for a turbulent few months as we wait to see if Theresa May can navigate negotiations with a small majority government. Amidst times of uncertainty we will see marketers turn to tried and tested media, with strong performance guarantees and a proven ROI.

Something not to be ignored however are the initial reports we are seeing reporting record youth voter turnout. This election was one fought just as much online as offline and although we saw the Conservatives plough money into Facebook advertising, it was clear that Labour won the social media battleground – which has proven key to their overall success.

This sentiment was not limited to online, however, pro-Corbyn views were felt just as much on the streets through homemade posters and banners, proving that an engaged and mobilised electorate can significantly impact results.

The petty tit-for-tat squabbling between politicians has once again thrown the UK, and more relevantly UK business, into an uncertain future. It has been a disastrous campaign by the Tories and a smart but politically divisive campaign by the Corbyn camp. Any campaign that takes the “what’s in it for me?” approach will pitch opposites against each other. This has been a bad night for politics.

Meanwhile British business is left to deal with more uncertainty. Yet I think there is an opportunity to lead here. Marketers need to focus on whatever certainties we do have right now. Upcoming regulations – such as GDPR – will come into force no matter which party holds power. Whilst we enter a period of political negotiation, the industry needs to keep looking further ahead to deal with these certainties and not get side-tracked by political posturing.

One thing’s for sure – the election outcome will likely result in a prolonged period of uncertainty which puts the already dampened near-term advertising outlook at risk, and is reflected in ITV’s share price under-performance on the day.

Key for the creative industries however is arguably the implications for the looming Brexit negotiations – the potentially reduced likelihood of a hard Brexit could bode well for the industry, which has been a firm proponent of the U.K. remaining the in the single market.

As Owen Jones has hinted at, this result is a victory for young people. Inspired by Corbyn, ignored by May, and targeted successfully on social media through the likes of Facebook’s ‘Promote’ tool, young people responded strongly to the issues affecting the NHS and tuition fees. Labour and younger voters resonated with each other, leading to things like this week’s ‘I’m voting Labour’ Snapchat filters, the #Grime4Corbyn movement, and high engagement across social media. As a consequence, young people also registered in droves in the lead-up to the election. The Conservative youth strategy almost felt like it depended on young people staying in bed on election day. They didn’t.

While the social media age is encouraging democracy, on this evidence, it’s looking like it’s time to put current polling methods out to pasture. The final YouGov poll and exit poll were decent enough, but all the others clearly didn’t reflect the electorate. Too many times now pollsters have failed to accurately predict important results. It’s not as though we’re becoming less predictable, and there’s even more data out there to model human behaviour, so there’s a big opportunity for someone to overthrow the old polling models.

The election may be over but we’re far from lifting any uncertainty, as many had hoped it would. Now everything is up in the air, but the poll result – gains for Labour and the Lib Dems – suggests that we may go into negotiations looking for an exit at the softer end of the spectrum. Sadly, this confusion doesn’t help businesses, advertisers or in our case content specialists as uncertainty feeds into the whole food chain from decision making and new projects to delayed investments and budget sign-off.

The UK has long been the hub of innovation with content marketing and the technology platforms attracting some of the best talent from around the world. Following this trail, big clients come to the UK to access this talent. However, the uncertainty around whether Brexit negotiations casts a shadow.

What the industry needs to do is be brave and agile and perhaps learn from some of the already identified campaign frailties and start to change the way we all communicate to our audiences…

While news of a hung Parliament at the end of last week was received as something of a shock, it seems as if the Tories have got what they deserve after taking success as a given. The campaign was non-existent and is being billed as the worst ever run by the party.

It’s a classic case of taking power for granted and underestimating the competition – not to mention the great British public. I was taught long ago that you get the competition you deserve! They’ve rested on their laurels and it’s come back to bite. Those in a position of power need to continually demonstrate why they deserve to be there and prove their value. There was very limited effort to outline why a Conservative government is good for the country, and they’re paying the price.

The right messaging wasn’t communicated when it mattered, so can the result really be described as a surprise? I’m not so sure. Labour clearly cut through by speaking to a generation that they believed could make the difference. In terms of the wider business repercussions, we’ll have to wait and see but strong and stable would be far from my guess.